Photoluminescence and semiconducting behavior of Fe, Co, Ni and Cu implanted in heavy metal oxide glasses

Transition metal ions (0.5 wt%) of Fe2O3, CoO, NiO or CuO doped heavy metal oxide glasses having chemical composition of 60PbO·20Bi2O3·20 MxOy mol% (where MxOy = B2O3 or SiO2 or P2O5) were prepared by conventional melt annealing method. Combined optical and photoluminescence properties have been measured and employed to evaluate the prepared glassy samples. From the absorption edge data, the values of the optical band gap Eopt, Urbach energy (ΔE) and refractive index were calculated to estimate semiconducting behavior. Photoluminescence and values of the optical energy gap were found to be dependent on the glass composition. The variations of the photoluminescence intensity, values of optical band gap, Urbach energy and refractive index gave an indication to use the prepared glasses for design of novel functional optical materials with higher optical performance.